Philly hitman sentenced to five consecutive life terms for six murders in three years

A Philadelphia hitman who admitted to playing a role in six murders and trying to kill a seventh in the span of three years, was sentenced Tuesday to five consecutive life sentences.

Ernest Pressley, 43, whom prosecutors described as a “cold-blooded killer,” pleaded guilty last year to charges including conspiracy to commit murder-for hire for the slayings he carried out between 2016 and 2018, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said.

“The little comfort that can be offered to the victims’ families is knowing that the defendant will spend the rest of his life in federal prison,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ashenfelter wrote in court filings in advance of Tuesday’s hearing. “[Pressley’s] depraved and vile actions will haunt the lives of many for generations to come. He is a stain on Philadelphia and society at large, and never again will he be permitted — or have a hope of being permitted — to menace our community again.”

Pressley’s lawyer, Karl Schwartz, said Pressley and his family were relieved that he was spared the death penalty.

“The whole situation was a tragedy of monumental significance. Both for the victims, certainly, and for Mr. Pressley and his family,” said Schwartz. “... If you believe in redemption and rehabilitation, then Mr. Pressley has taken a first step both in terms of his willingness to admit the crimes and not put the families of the victims through the horrible ordeal of a trial and has expressed his remorse and regret.”

Investigators began to unravel Pressley’s crimes in late 2018, when Philadelphia Police and the FBI began investigating him in connection with the fatal shooting of 45-year-old Shawn Small in Overbrook Park. Small was fatally shot while sitting in his car in the 7400 block of Malvern Avenue.

Pressley was caught on surveillance footage near the scene of the shooting and from a bar where Pressley was seen with Small and several other men, authorities said.

Investigators soon found that Pressley had also killed two tow truck drivers in January 2017 as part of a murder-for-hire scheme, authorities said. Pressley agreed to kill one of the two truck drivers for money to prevent him from testifying as a witness in an assault trial in Philadelphia, authorities said.

To make it seem as though the murders were part of a feud between warring tow truck companies instead of a paid hit, Pressley killed one of the witness’ coworkers.

As they continued to investigate Pressley, authorities learned he had also fatally shot a man in Philadelphia in January 2017 as he worked on his car at a garage near East Sharpnack and Baldwin streets. He also admitted to providing the location of a man whom a Philadelphia drug trafficker wanted dead, eventually leading to the wrong man’s death in July 2018, authorities said.

Pressley also tried to shoot and kill a woman in 2018, but she survived the attack, authorities said. The victim later found that her home had been ransacked and that money and jewelry was stolen. It was later discovered that Pressley had sold a Rolex watch that belonged to the victim at a Philadelphia pawn shop.

Staff writer Jeremy Roebuck contributed to this article.